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QPR is the only professional football club founded in Chelsea. Chelsea FC, a tripple mistake, has an origin which is associated with the Stamford Bridge ground situated in Fulham. QPR is from Queen's Park in North Western London. This part of the city was in the 19:th century an enclave between Willesden and Paddington, belonging to the Borough of Chelsea.Fig 1. Queens Park can be reached by the tube and the Bakerloo Line to the north. Many trains have the sign Queens Park. Fig 2. Queen's Park During the second half of the 1870's the fields between Kensal Green and Kilburn were built
by the Artizans, Labourers and General Dwellings Company, a cooperative
company with a vision of decent residents for the working class at affordable
prices.This was all during a time when overcrowded and pore living conditions
were wildly spread amongst the poor people in London. The company was
lead by William Austin, a former working-class man himself. Three larger
areas were built: Shaftesbury Park in Battersea, Noel Park in Haringey
and Queens Park. The name Queen's Park was most likely referring to Queen
Victoria, but was chosen years before her visit to The Royal Agricultural Society's convention in 1879. The park Queens Park was built 1886 on the convention site. The park is owned by
City of London. Early football teams The field by Queen's Park was one of two where sports were played in western London in the 19:th century. The other were the fields north of Shepherds Bush. Both closely related to QPR. Football teams which had played in the fields around Queen's Park: NN (No Names), Kilburn whom contributed to the founding of the FA. Kildare, Kensal Rangers, West Kilburn, Kilburn Invicta, Harlesden United, Brondesbury, Hampstead Crescent, Queen's Park Albion, Queen's Park Rovers, Queen's Park Athletic, Beethoven, Droop Street Boys, St Judes, Christchurch Rangers. Paddington, North Paddington, Paddington Thirsday, Kensal Rise United, United London Scottish and Queens Park Gardens. Football teams which had played in the fields north of Shepherds Bush: Shepherds Bush FC (Old St Stephens), Darfield, West London Old Boys, Acton, Silver Star, Hammersmith Athletic, Hammersmith Exiles, St John Hammersmith, St Pauls Hammersmith. D Street School / Droop Street Boys FC QPR’s origin can be traced back to D Street Board School, later known as Droop Street founded in 1877. The school still stands, but was renamed in 1951 to Queens Park Primary School. Fig 5. The boys wanted to continue playing football after they finished school and formed a football club. It's likely the team was founded in 1882 under the name Droop Street Boys FC. Since the name Droop Street first existed 1884 it is possible that the absolutely first name was D Street Boys FC. In June 1, 1882 at the School Drill Hour on the playground was disrupted by outsiders. It may have been about football when the team was formed by a group of pupils and other young people. History repeated itself 2010 when a modern Droop Street Boys (a gang of troublemakers) joined QPR's football academy in Queens Park and Kilburn. The Church's evolvement in the 1800's was just to get young men into football instead of a life of crime. St Jude's Institute The team was a mix between students and others. In order to become better organized they contaced the St Judes Church that at the time organized a boys brigade (a youth organization) through the recently founded (1884) annex church St Judes Institute. The club became a part of St Judes youth program and changed their name to St Judes Institute (ca 1885). Nowdaysf 2010 it is known as St Judes Hall. The youth club has in later years become a organisation for the elderly. Fig 6 The mother church to St Judes was St Lukes in Chelsea. St Jude is the patron saint of all whom have lost the hope and the Saint of the Impossible. Something that well-tried QPR fans could use. The church itself was torn down in 1961 and on its grounds residential housings were built. From St Judes Institute Queens Park Harriers (red and white hoops shirts), a running club was also cut out. In Queen's Park today, you can find the Jubilee Sports Centre and the Queen's Park Hall which is housing the fameus All Star Boxing Club. Frank Bruno used to train there. Although it's 90 years since QPR played their last game in the victincy of Queens Park, support is still strong and major fixtures sees a blossoming of blue and white in the Avenues. Fig 7. Christ Church Rangers
The angriest rival to St Judes was Christchurch Rangers. Like St Judes
it was also founded in 1882. The Christchurch Rangers Boys Club had their base in Christchurch Mission Room that was situated in Coallge Park. Christchurch was an annex church to St John the Evangelist in Kensal Green. Christchurch Mission later around 1886, moved to Hazel Street Kensal Green. Nowdays you can find a youth
hostile called Kensal Green Youth Club, on the same place. The first known match was played at a field near Willesden Junction on november 25th 1883 between Christ Church Rangers and St Andrews FC. The match ended with the Rangers winning by 4-0. Today these clubs are known as QPR and Fullham. Fig 7. First known game for St Judes was an away game against Vulcan FC in Willesden the 20th february 1886. The merge or takeover There are two traditions about club formation, through a merger of Christchurch and St Judes or that the club is formed solely from St Judes Institute FC. Probably it was 1886 some of players felt that they could form a stronger team if they merge Chrithchurch and St Judes. It is unclear if the clubs got together equally and formed a new club or the Christchurch's best players simply joined St Judes. Christchurch Rangers was a founder team of Middlesex County Senior Cup 1887 over a year after the merger in 1886. Christchurch Rangers continued to exist until 1889. The following year there are a Paddington FC. According to tradition a forsättning by leftovers playersafter the best had left Christchurch .It is a strong indication that there was no complete merger of the two clubs in 1886. The merged club during the first year called themselves St Judes. But they needed a new name. They decided to call themselves Queens Park, since many of the players lived in that district, an area also with a high status. "Rangers" is from Christchurch Rangers.It was not until 1888 that the name was changed to QPR, according to a newspaper note. Throughout the 1880s, the Christchurch Rangers are significantly stronger teams than the St Judes Institute, which is not mentioned in the local papers. Fig 9.Fig 10. St Judes played 1885 in light blue and dark blue colors. It's likely that Christchurch also played in blue, since they wore dark/light blue quarters after their merger. The descendants of Christchurch, Paddington most likely also played in blue sine QPR changed their colors to avoid confusion between the clubs. Instead they wore the Irish green and white hoops. The founders The founders of Droop Street/St Judes were Jack McDonald and Frank Weller with support from the teacher Arthur (Johnny) Wrightson. MacDonald had learned how to play football in Govan, Glasgow where he was raised. The Football in Scotland was more advanced than in England. During the 1880s the Glasgow team, Queens Park FC were also the Scotish national team was considered as the worlds best football team. John Wrightson was appointed as teacher in February 1881, at D Street School and may be the real founder of the club. A legendary played in Christchurch was George Woodhouse, who later on became the director of QPR. A unifying force after the merger was reverend Gordon Young, who belonged to the club management and was the largest single contributor to the club. On the field he was captain and has been mentioned as a heavy center forward.Fig 11.Some of them should be in the picture in Fig9. Links with Chelsea and Paddington appear to have been strong in the 1890s, as several of the team's Patrons were MP's for the districts. The patrons for QPR in the 1890s were Lord Randolph Churchill (Winston's father), famous sports campaigner and MP for Paddington South, John Aird MP for Paddington North, Sir Charles Dilke MP for Chelsea, Mr. CA Whitmore MP for Chelsea and businessman Mr. William Whiteley creator of Britains biggest department store in Bayswater at the time. The fields /grounds Their first field was the Welford Fields, owned by Wellford’s Dairy. The players used the pub The Case is Altered as their changing room. Fig 12. QPR has trough out the years played at least eleven different grounds, of which 10 of them are between Paddington and Wembley. Fig 13. Queen's Park Rangers also played half a year in Barnes south of Themes, an early groundsharing with Fulham. Wembley The nearby national stadium Wembley where built 1923 and there was a plan to base an amateur team called Argonauts in the stadium, to play in the League as Queen's Park of England. QPR is the club closest to Wembley and it’s a tradition for the fans for fans to march to Wembley during cup finals . During the Cup Finals against Oxford in 1986 10,000 supporters marched together.* Fig 14. QPR have played at Wembley 5 times (one replay) and have seen 2 wins 1 draw and 2 losses. The largest Triumph is the League Cup victory 1967. In the 2014 playoff final, QPR had 49,000 fans, which is a club record at New Wembley. At Gamla Wembly, QPR had 60,000 fans in the FA Cup final 1982 against Tottenham, which is also a club record* Fig 15. Limited Company 1898 at St Judes institute the decision was made that the club was to become a professional one. A good decision since many amateur clubs came to disappear within the next twenty years.The capital stock was £ 5,000 which was distributed to 10,000 shares with a value of 10 shillings per share. A prominent figure after the club became professional was Arthur Lythaby that combined being a director with the captain of the reserve team, it was to say the least unusual. From 1907 the Fielding family lead the club, which last until the mid-1940s. Then came Albert Hittinger who was chairman during much of the time until Jim Gregory and the modern era in the early 1960s.QPR became a part of the Southern League, organizer of professional football in southern England. Of the southern clubs only Woolwich A was a continuous member of the Football League. Fig 16. The main reason the club turned pro was because allot of players were going pro at the time. QPR decided to do the same in order to avoid loosing players to other clubs. But also because they had previously been penalized by London FA for having a player that had previously been professional. Problems with the football association has followed the club throughout its entire history. Outshoots and Fake clubs formed The first outshoot of the club as mentioned earlier was Paddington FC. More worse attempt happend in 1893 QPR had become one of the strongest teams in West London. Before the season in 1893 left the best players QPR and formed a new team called the West London FC. At the same time there were rumors that a Professional club should be formed in West London. There may be a connection. Some matches are documented of the WestLondoners but in 1894 they seem to be dissolved. It took a few years before QPR had recovered. Next outshoott was the formation of Kensal Rise United. When QPR left Kensal Rise 1904 the arena owner started a new team to play at the ground, with a lot of former player from Rangers. The team was blocked by the other London clubs and was not admitted in any league and after some years it vanished. The next year 1905, a different venue owner attempted to do the same. The London clubs again went against the new club and blocked them to play in any league around London. But The Fototball League was expanding south and the club wich was given the name Chelsea FC was admittet to that League. Had this expansion been a year earlier Kensal Rise United had been in the Football League instead.Fig 17.
Early success and setback When Rangers moved to Park Royal Ground in 1907, everybody thought they had found a permanent home for the club. The ground was built by the Great Western Railway and could hold up to 60,000 people. GWR’s main station was Paddington and many of its workers were QPR fans. The trains going to important matches were filled with white and green stripes. Park Royal Ground had its owned Railway station. Fig 18. A perfect solution. In fact too perfect that the British army confiscated it for use of its own during the First World War. And thus QPR was homeless again. Beside the ground one could find the Guinness brewery, who’s workers mostly consisted by QPR fans. The company was also the team’s first sponsor.One of the earliest successes for the team was two Charity Shield Finals. One in 1908 and one in 1912. The finals were played between the champions of Football League division I and the Southern league. The two strongest Leagues. Fig19 The same year (1908), Stoke pulled out of Football League, and were to be replaced. QPR applied for membership, something the fans thought of as purely a formality. to their surprise Tottenham was picked, even though they finished in 7th in the Southern League. This was a heavy blow for the club. They had been denied play in the Southern League, and weren't allowed to play until through an act of mercy were allowed to play in the middle of the week. Because of this fewer supporters attended the games, and revenue was lost. This lead to among other things, selling Evelyn Lintott, QPR's first England International. Fig 20. From that point on QPR was seen as a mid class team. This event is regarded as the greatest backlash in the clubs history. White City The classic Olympic stadium was built in 1908 as part of the exhibition area north of Shepherd's Bush. There it held a number of exhibitions. The first was Franco-British in 1808 and later, among others it held the Imperial International from 1909 which later influenced the names of the streets in the area. The arena was also the site for the Olympics in 1908 and 1948 but also for a World Cup match in 1966. Between 1929 and 1978 it housed the Speedway Club White City Rebels who had the American Confederate flag as a symbol. QPR were tenants 2 times on a permanent basis from 1931 to 1933 and from 1962 to 1963 and 2 matches 1912 when a cole-strike made it impossible to reach the Park Royal Arena. Before the rebuild of Loftus Road in the 1970s, it was discussed that move again and to build a brand new arena at White City. That was considered too expensive. The stadium was demolished in 1985 and now is the BBC's White City department there. Fig 21. Loftus Road and Shepherds Bush In the beginning of the last century Loftus Road was an empty field in the outskirts of Shepherds Bush. It had been used to dump large amounts of mud from the digging of the Central Railway, the world’s largest and deepest underground railway. The muddy field made Loftus Road a very water drenched field. Shepherds Bush FC, the red and white stripes, originally from Westminster with the previous name Old St Stephens built the ground. They had moved from the nearby Wormholt Farm. The Bushmen, as they were called back then, was one of the better amateur teams in Lodon in the end of the 19:th century, and during that time arch rivals to QPR. They beat QPR with as much as 6-1 in 1886. However during the First World War the club was disbanded. The last match they played was in 1915. Fig 22. A few years later QPR moved in. What first started as a temporary solution has now lasted for as long as 84 years. Shepherds Bush is a part of London associated with entertainment. There are theatres, music clubs and so on. Fig 23. Shepherds Bush FC had a tight connection with the theatre, some of the players were even actors. Today you can find BBC Centre in the Shepherds Bush area. Many pop and rock bands have also performed there. Its possible that that might be the reason for there being so many QPR fans in this particular profession. Some of the groups associated with the area are groups like The Clash, Deep Purple, The Who etc. A present day (2006) double-acting player, Gareth Ainsworth is both a wind-speed winger and a singer in his own band. Loftus Road Ground - the names Before the 2019-20 season, the name of QPR's arena was changed to Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium. A foundation named after the promising footballer who was stabbed to death in 2006. In 1970? - 1990? the official name was Rangers Stadium. Loftus Road Ground and The Loft is named after the original road to the field prior to the arena. The road can been seen in maps from 1841 and from 1886 the name Loftus Road is given. The street is probably named after a person, perhaps the person who owned a property at the street. Another possibility is any significant Loftus, for example, Adam Loftus, at that time ambassador in New South Wales. The name Loftus comes from the village of Lofthouse in Yorkshire. The origin of the word of Loft is Scandinavian and means a loft - a upper room under the roof, which The Loft is in reality. Fig 24. Ellerslie Road and the houses on the street and Loftus Road seems to be built simultaneously. The name can derived from a property owners. The name Ellerslie is probably from Elderlie a town in Scotland where the Scottske national hero William Wallece came from.. School End Stand is named after the nearby school. The school existed before the football field. Nearby cross street Blomfontain Road, is probably named after the South African city Blomfontain. The name is younger than the Loftus name but the street is the oldest cross street and has an older name Oldoaks Road. South Africa Road is named after the South African pavilion in the exhibition area White City. The street was constructed just after 1945 when the White-City residential area was bulit. The first name of the west terrace was simply the Mud bank*. The club has been able to expand when it previously owned houses around the stadium and also had the opportunity to buy up the school. Nowadays there is no expansion possible Football League First in 1920 QPR became a Fotbooll League football club. It should have been 20 years before. After the war, QPR had a pretty good team, and looked with confidence to climb the league. They reached the quarter-finals in the FA Cup in 1923 but as time went by QPR went down to the table. The club had worse economy than its competitors. Fig 25. Blue and white hoops In 1927 Queens Park Rangers switched their colours from Green and White hoops to Blue and White. The reason behind this was that there had been to much bad luck. They had already applied two times for membership in the Football league and failed. Not until 1921 was membership admitted in division 3. Two of the team’s better grounds were closed: Apart from Park Royal also Kensal Rise Ground. Two times in the early twenties the team came in last place in the third division. This was a new low for the team. The blue and white color produced results and the club climbed up in the table. QPR became champions in the difficult old division 3 south in 1948 and played in the Football League divison 2 until 1953. Best placement was a 13th place in 1949. The Supporter Cub is formed and Daphne Biggs The official supporters club was formed in 1935. Prior to the club itself the supporter club created its own symbol, which also came to be used in the program header.Fig26. Players, managers and owners have been replaced over the years at QPR. What always remains is the fans - the club's soul. One that stood stool is Daphne Biggs which worked with the supporter club from the early 1950s and 50 years forward. It¨s her favorite song that played at victories. Fig27. Missing hoops Between 1953 and 1959, QPR played without hoops in white shirts and blue shorts. An outfit that is actually returned in three away games in 1976-77. The club has been relegated from division two and QPR listed some low attendances, the lowest since the recession in the early 1930s. Alec Stock inspires new optimism Re shake-up occurred when Alec Stock took over as manager in 1959. Hoops came back and a a move to White City Stadium, foreshadowing the future. He also built up a team of promising young players with a lot of own products, who took the club to Wembley and League cup victory in 1967 and in two seasons from Division 3 to the top league. The premiere game 1968 was against Leicester City and ended 1-1. Fig28. Jim Gregory era During the 60’s, when the car dealer and garage
magnet Jim Gregory took over the club. He was a local boy from the Bush
and invested a lot of money in the club. He even had a way with the politicians,
and was given building permits for a total reconstruction of Loftus Road. A New stadium was built 1968-1981. In 1981 a plastic
pitch was layed, the first in England. The original idea was to build
a roof over the arena, so that Loftus Road could be used to other events
beside football. And during his time as chairman the club reached its
greatest success. Best football and Gordon Jago QPR was the
first club in England that played continental style of football. The legendary
manager Gordon Jago realized after Englands defeat against West Germany
in 1972 that football is a game best played with a good passing game on
the ground. QPR would for 20 years play the most technical football in
England. After Gordon Jago came captain Terry Venables and successors,
following in his footsteps. Firsts Besides its excellent football the club has many firsts in English football history. They were the first? to wear shiny silk shirts. The first and only club to march to Wembley. The first third level English club to win a major trophy. The first with their own TV commercial. They were early adopters of shirt advertisement, and they were the first to make use of plastic grass (1982-1990).Fig 31. Maverics The club has also been characterized by a lot of skilled players who do not always wanted to be subordinate to the system and in different ways expressed their own will. There are players like Stan Bowles, Mark Dennis, Simon Stainrod, Rodney Marsh and in recent years Adel Taarabt and Joey Barton. Fig 32. The season 1975-1976 and Dave Sexton The most successful season was 75-76. The Rangers skilled team where the foundation was laid by Gordon Jago and perfected by Dave Sexton. QPR led the League in the last six rounds in the spring (total was the team at top position at 12 rounds) but a shameful loss against Norwich and a strong finish of Liverpool made the League title slipped out of their hands. Fig 32. After this season, it became less and less variation of team winning the League. New sources of income that TV revenues skewed resources between the clubs and it became fewer clubs who could fight for the top position. It became even more signifikant with the introduction of the Premier League. Fig 33. Missed player The club also has a worse track record, as failing to rrecruit promising young future stars.Players that QPR have had as a youth player / trialist and not gone ahead with include Tony Currie, Stuart Pearce, John Barnes, Dennis Wise, Alan Devonshire, Robin Friday och John Barnes* also Rahem Sterling and Zlatan Ibramovic. Sterling was offered contract but had to be sold in 17-years of age. Ibra trained with the club for a week as 16-year-old but interrupted his stay after an argument with the manager Gerry Francis. The Fans QPR has since the beginnings in the fields around Queens Park very dedicated fans. Although the entire first team left the club in 1894 and formed a new club, the supporters stayed with QPR despite a lot of inexperienced players. Over time, a significant part consisted of descendants of Irish immigrants. Geographically, the supporters reside around a corridor of the M4 and A40 motorways from central London to the outskirts of the city. The fans are working-class. The middle class in the same area supports Chelsea.There are also a large number of devoted supporters who could be characterized as negativists. They always think it's going to hell and after every loss, many within the club's management and worthless players should be sacked straight away. Fig 34. Scandinavian fans English football has always had big interestin Scandinavia when league matches have been on the pools ever since 1937. It got even bigger from 1969 when Scandinavians could see a live English league match each week. The biggest impact that contributed to many new qpr supporters in Scandinavia was the match QPR - Coventry on November 10, 1973. Only the second half could be seen in live broadcast due to a delayed Davis Cup match.That's enough to be impressed by Rangers' speedy total football a contrast to the regular English football long balls and cuts. Rengers Roar The fans have always stood behind their heoroes with chants. The first time it rang around all over t he arena - a Rangers Roar was in 1966. Since then chanting has evolve from Rodney chants to advanced songs. Recurrence nowadays is Kevin Gallen's Magic Hat. The chant is sung still (2014) even though it was 7 years ago, he quit and since then has been a few games against Chelsea. The music has become increasingly important. Numerous Rangers songs have passed Loftus Road speakers or people's lips. In recent years, notably three songs become permanent. London Calling by The Clash at the start of the match, Pigbag at goal and the Silver Lining by Jeff Back at victory. A club rituals are emerging from below, from the fans. Pigbag-song came about that way. It started with only 3-4 fans started singing the song on a train to away games. The improved riff now with a hoops sung at the end began to get more and more followers. After a half a years it was sung of fans around the stadium and now the club began playing the song. The first time the song was heard from the speakers was 1998. Middlesbrough has also played the song. It has also been heard on Fake-Hoops - Readings arena and has been played before the match at Sweden National Stadium. Fig 36. 1982 and Terry Venables An interesting teambuilding was created by Terry Venables with young technical players who took advantage of the plastic pitch. And like Alec Stock 15 years earlier reached QPR Wembley now in an FA Cup final. Had it been another time Rangers had fought in the very top. Now they had to sell their best players and Terry himself disappeared south to Barcelona.Fig 37. Fulham Park Rangers During the late 20:th century there have been several discussions regarding a merging between QPR and other clubs. Brentford in 1967, Fulham in 1987 (with suggested names as Fulham Park Rangers, West London Rangers and Hammersmith Flyovers!). Wimbledon 2001 (QPR Dons) and the move to Milton Keynes also in 2001 (MK QPR). However due to a strong group of supporters and a strong brand name QPR has even though their bad financial status avoided a merging with other teams. Fig 38. Fonder club of Premier League QPR is the founder member of the Premier League 1992. Despite a good start with a 5th place first season was the club's financial situation unstable. There was no long-term approach which ultimately meant relegation and even down to the third division. It would take 15 years before it again played Premier League football at Loftus Road. Fig 39. Top London Club 1974, 1975, 1976, 1984, 1988, 1993 Queens Park Rangers Ladies FC Queens Park Rangers Ladies FC was formed in 2001 by the merger of two established women's teams Wembley Mill Hill and QPR Women FC. The newly formed team has since played at 2nd and 3d levels of the English women leagues . Best placement was 2011/12 with a 7th place in the Premier League South. QPR Woman FC won the Woman's Cup in 1977 and reached two finals years thereabouts. The mother club could invest more in the ladies football. Besides the football provides a strong women's team added value in the form of stronger identity and greater support. QPR have a fairly high percentage of female support, but there could be more. Fig 40. Divsion 3 and Ian Holloway Ian Holliway became manager when the Rangers was relegated from the second level. It took him only two seasons to secure promotion despite poor economy and limited resources. The charismatic manager created a team with strong personalities who are still (2014) is many people's favorite. The team consisted of a lot of their own products. Fig 41. Holloway's victory parade in 2014 was attended about 250,000 people from west London: By comparison, Chelsea's parade after the 2015 Premier League victory was attended by only 70,000.* Towards bankruptcy, and the world's richest club At the turn of the century and thereafter the economy for QPR worsened. The club was set in Administration during a one year period, and a huge loan from an unknown ABC Corporation became a stranglehold that jeopardized their very existence. Fans feared that the season of 2008 would be played in Hyde Park in the Sunday league, with the fans themselves as players. In the last moment the club was saved by the F1 billionaires Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, whom bought QPR with their goals set on the top. They were later joined by the Indian steel tycoon billionaire family Mithal. Fig 42. Briatore and Ecclestone set up a strategy called "the Four Year Plan" for promotion to the Premier League , which also became a prize-winning documentary film. The plan was a success and Rangers returned to Premier League football after 15 years in the lower divisions followed by Briatore and Ecclestone immediately selling their majority stake to the airline magnate Tony Fernandes for a heavy profit. Riots in Shepherds Bush QPR already had problems with hooliganism in 1930 when Loftus Road was closed for two weeks after crowed trouble. English football had major problems with hooliganism 1970-1990 but QPR was hit hardest in 2010. Before the match against Millwall on September 28, about 6000 united Millwall and Chelsea (Twente?) Hooligans attacked Shepherds Bush, shops, eateries and pubs were damage. A QPR supporter was stabbed in a pub. The troubles continued during and after the game.* Den Brasilianska kopplingen Kensal Green / College Park 2016 i QPR-land verkar ha ett starkt inslag av brasilianare. Den senaste brasilianska spelaren var Sandro som spelade 2014-17 och Julio Ceasar 2012-14. Det fanns en graffiti ”Dont sell Sandro” i området. En gång i tiden innan den nuvarande regimen hade QPR också Carlos Dunga som direktör.
Tony Fernandes era Tony Fernandes proved to be the most serious owner for a long time and he immediately made major investment in the club and gave the club and its fans again visions of a great future. Fig 43. But the attempt to once again establish Rangers as a major team in the Premier League was however unsuccessful and short lived, only two seasons. The tactic of using established and well-paid big stars backfired. One would be hard pressed to find the likes of the reluctant players found in the QPR, and the team almost became hated in football-England having evolved into a kind of mini-Chelsea, which was a remarkable development since the return was greeted with respect and positive expectation. QPR's proud history had again been acknowledged. The team, a once founding member of the Premier League. This was a real blow. The first half of the 2010s was like a yoyo: up and downs between Premier League and Championship. The best moment was Bobby Zamora's magical goal in the final minute in the play-off final at Wembley in 2014. Fig 14. On trains, pubs and nightclubs around West London was sung "Oh Bobby Zamora" all night. The Season 2016-17 QPR have embraced a new strategy partly due to rules on Financial Fair Play. The Club is investing in the long term and on promising players from the lower divisions. Fig 44. Financial Fair Play UEFA's Financial Fair Play does not affect the big-spending big-clubs investing fantasy sums in players. It's hard against smaller clubs with ambitious goals like challenging just the big clubs. QPR is such a club. It is very difficult to build a successful team without initial investment which means violation of the Finansial Fair Play and thus major penalties. QPR's investment towards the Premier League 2011-2015. violated the rules and the club was punished by £ 20 million in 2018, plus the owners £ 20 million loan was transferred to the companies equity. QPR is the club in Europe that has been fined with the hugest amount. The system actually means a closed league without reallocation of resources practiced in for example in hockey-leagues as NHL. Warren Farm The new Training Centre Warren Farm is provides the opportunity for more own grown players in the club - the promising youth is staying. The more people who come in contact with the club also means that fans base widens. Unfortunately, a large Nimby-resistance in the area has led to questions about the plan can become a reality.Building permits were granted in September 2015 and 2018, all appeals had been rejected. Work on dismantling the existing facilities has commenced in June 2019. Thereafter, the actual construction work will begin. Fig 45 Linford Christie Stadium The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham held a consultation in 2019 with various proposals on how to develop the Linford Christie area. There were three main options: 1) Do nothing, 2) Necessary upgrades or 3) Invest in a modern sports and event arena with up to 45,000 seats. Option 3 received 85% of the vote. QPR believes that the consultation was positive for QPR's proposal that the area should contain football stadiums with about 30,000 spectators. The study's recommendation is that Hammersmith and Fulham should go ahead and review the results of the consultation by establishing a feasibility study to see what the next step can be to realize the wishes of the residents / visitors. The location is advantageous because it is free from residential areas and centrally located in London. A major problem is finding good communication solutions. But even the connection to the Wormwoood Scrubs itself and a passage to the future communications hub of Old Oak Common can be tricky to resolve. Actually, a new station should be built either at Hammersmith Hospital on the Central Line or at the nearby Overground (West London Line). Fig 46. The 2019/20 season Before the 2019-20 season, new manager Mark Warburton has made major changes in the squad with 12 newcomers and 12 discontinued players. The fans are looking confident in the new season and it started off well with a away victory against Stoke City. Financial Fair Play has put a hamper on the club. Loftus Road is expensive to run and fines must be paid. To get balance, the club must sell players. Warren Farm seems to be on the move, but the shovel is not yet in the ground. However, the uncertainty is great if it is possible to build a new arena within the W12, the last straw is the Linford Christie Stadium, perhaps possible, but there is a long way to go. When teams were formed in the 19:th century it was common practice to take the name of the city or borough where the team came from. QPR however took their name from the highly regarded Queen's Park. If they would have taken the name of the borough they came from, they would today be known as Chelsea.
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